Clothes-pounder.



No. 780,139. PATENTIIID JAN. 17, 1905.

H. F. SULLIVAN.

CLOTHES POUNDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1902.

UNTTED STATES Patented January 1'7, 1905.

HARVEY F. SULLIVAN, OF WELLINGTON, KANSAS.

CLOTHES-POUNDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. '7 80,139, dated January 17, 1905. Application filed May 3, 1902. Serial No. 105,803.

To (tZZ whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, HARVEY F. SULLIVAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tellington, in the county of Sumner and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Founder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved construction of clothes-pounder, the object being to provide an exceedingly cheap, simple, and efficient device by means of which clothes can be quickly and easily cleansed by a pounding or compressing operation, the device being such as to cause the water to be forcibly passed through the clothes in opposite directions during the reciprocation of the pounder; and with this object in view the invention consists in the details of construction and novelty of combination, all of which will be fully described. hereinafter and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a clothes-pounder constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an inverted perspective view illustrating the under side of said pounder. Fig. 3 is a Vertical sectional view, and Fig. 4c is an inverted plan view.

In carrying out my invention I employ a metallic cone A, preferably made of tin or galvanized iron, which is preferably beaded at the bottom, as shown at A, and formed with an annular crimp or bead A a short distance below its central line. Secured within the cone at the line of the crimp is a horizontal partition B, and extending upwardly from the center of said partition and out through the apex of the cone is a socket-tube G, into which the pole or handle D is inserted. The partition Bis perforated at equidistant points, as shown at E, which register vertically with openings G, produced in the cone about midway between the partition B and the apex of the cone, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3. Secured in said openings are vertical parallel pipes or tubes F, the lower ends of which terminate at a point between the partition B and of the center of the cone.

the bottom of the cone. end of each pipe F is arranged the hood H, said hood being secured to the exterior of the cone and being closed at the sides and top and open at the bottom. A strip of metal I divides the spaces below the partition into two unequal chambers or compartments, owing to the fact that the strip is located to one side Extending from the center portion of the strip across the center of the cone to one side of the cone is another strip of metal 1, thereby subdividing the larger chamber of the pounder into two compartments, the larger chamber of said three chambers being nearly equal to the two smaller ones, and it will be noted that the lower end of the pipes F are located one in each compartment. It will also be noted that the strips I and I are substantially flush with the bottom of the cone at their lower edges, while their upper edges extend above the lower ends of said pipes F, but do not extend entirely to the partition B, so that while the lower chamber is divided into three separate compartments there is a communication established between the said compartments adjacent to the partition B, thereby increasing the efliciency of the pounder when in operation.

By extending the strip I entirely across the cone it will have sufficient rigidity to withstand the upward pressure of the clothes against it and theother strip without either one of them resting against the partition, thereby permitting of communication between the different compartments, and by locating the strip I to one side of the center the area of the cone will be divided into three compartments, one for each tube F, of less difference in size than if it extended across the center and one side was formed into two equal compartments. The lower ends of the tubes terminate at a point between the tops of the partitions and the bottom of the cone, so that when the pounder is forced downward the air can continue to escape until the last tube has been submerged, after which the pressure from the Above the uppen confined air will be uniform at all points. When the pounder is being raised, the air can enter through the first one that is open, and before the bottom of the cone reaches the surface, thereby reducing suction to a minimum in each of the compartments or preventing it entirely.

In operation the clothes to be washed are placed in a suitable receptacle containing soap and water, the pounder placed upon the top of the same, and pressure applied thereto by means of the rod or handle D, forcing the air and Water up through the pipes and out beneath the hoods. WVhen the cone or pounder is lifted, air will enter through the hoods and pass down through the first tube that is open structing the parts as shown and described the pounder will possess great strength and rigidity. and at the same time it will be so light and efiicient that it can be easily operated.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A clothes-pounder consisting of a head and a handle therefor, the head comprising a conical perforated body, one of the perforations being at the apex and the others being arranged at equidistant points around the body, said body being beaded between said side openings and the bottom, a partition secured with its edge in said bead and perforated in vertical alinement with the side perforations in the body, a downwardly-opening hood over each side perforation, atube for the handle through the perforation in the apex, the lower end of which is secured to the partition, tubes secured in said registering perforations, the lower end of each of which terminates between the partition and the bottom of the cone, a strip secured at its ends to the body and extending across the same at one side of the center, and another strip secured at one end to the middle of the first-mentioned strip and extending across the center of the cone and having its end secured to the opposite side of the body, the lower edges of said strips being even with the bottom of the cone and the upper edges being in a plane above the lower ends of the project ing tubes.

HARVEY F. SULLIVAN. Witnesses:

H. E. GILMORE, N. H. VoILs. 

